Whenever I am here in Nepal I always keep an eye out for bricks, as seeing them makes me think of my good friend Richard Pieper. Most buildings are adorned with them, and the walls surrounding the Royal Palace are all brick. On our daily walk to the World Education office we pass by a large section of the Palace wall which is undergoing a post earthquake renovation. I saw this pile and noticed the markings and didn’t think much of it at the time, but the next day I stopped and took this picture. It is not at all uncommon to see the swastika used as a symbol in various ways around Nepal. It got me thinking about how we in the West are so conditioned to see the obvious negative aspects of it. I went to the wiki page and learned a lot of interesting facts about its history and usage. I would encourage anyone interested to check it out. What got to me especially was that under the section of the wiki that showed the varieties of swastikas, the Hakenkreuz (second row, bottom left) gave me a visceral reaction.

We head back to the US on Sunday. I have managed to pick up a bothersome cold and have been a bit less active than I would like, but Cris’ work ends today and we will have some time to goof around tomorrow and Sunday morning. Thanks for following.

To me this photo represents a lot of what Ithaca was like in the 1980s. This VW Beetle was parked in front of the Ithaca Diner and the goat inside seemed quite content. I can’t remember what article in American Demographics that it was used to illustrate, but it shows how creative Mike Rider and Jim Keller were in choosing images. Pretty cool.

The opening of the exhibit is a week from today. I’ll probably be jet-lagged, but stop by and I’ll mumble a heartfelt hello.

Last night was the full moon and Cris thought it might be a nice idea to go to Boudhanath Stupa and have a stroll around. We have come here quite often, but always during the day.

It was a beautiful evening, the temperature was perfect, and the feeling was very peaceful and relaxing.

This giant prayer wheel spins constantly and is just inside the doors of the little temple on the site.

The area is really interesting. One enters the main gate at 6 on a clock face and everyone strolls quietly around in a clockwise direction. The stupa is on the inside of the clock and is surrounded on the outside by restaurants, guesthouses, and smaller business enterprises. Dogs and pigeons are everywhere.

Nepal is so interesting in terms of religion. The culture here blends Hinduism and Buddhism in what seems to me a beautiful way. I have talked to Nepali friends about this and it seems quite natural to them. If you think about religion in the West, there isn’t so much crossover. The closest I can think of to this is Unitarianism, which is how I was raised, and seems to encourage people to take the best of all religions and build a personal philosophy around what you find useful. One year my Sunday School was called “The Church Across the Street” and we spent the entire time visiting just about every church and denomination in Meadville. I loved the Holy Rollers.

Because one walks in a circle around the stupa it is easy to just keep going without realizing where you entered, which I eventually figured out is one reason for the visit. I just had the feeling that it would be possible to walk all evening and not feel the time passing. It was a lovely experience.

New York State Fair in Syracuse. Shot in 1980. I did a quick search for Red online and unfortunately nothing came up. Anyone out there ever see him back in the day?

The Hope and Feathers exhibit opens on the 4th. All these prints will be for sale at the gallery and online on my Photo Shelter site. The online site will include images that didn’t make it on the walls due to space limitations.

Coming to Kathmandu always means getting quite a few paper masala dosa over the course of our stay. We go to Angan in Lazimpat which is about a 5 minute walk from the Hotel Tibet. (Crossing the street is the most difficult part in getting there.) In the middle of that rice flour crispy pancake is an amazing mixture of potato and spices. I really think Cris could eat these every day, and at times I think she has. That is Darrell Earnest on her left. Darrell does the early grade math portion of the World Education/Unicef project on which Cris does the reading component. (I hope to write a post soon about the work they are doing here; it is really amazing.)

Just outside the door of Angan is this telephone switching box. I think this is one of the most perfect logos that I have ever seen.

I have delivered all of the American Demographics photos to Hope and Feathers for framing. I get back from Nepal on the 1st and the show will be hung on the 2nd. The opening is Thursday the 4th.

I had heard that a house was to be moved in Ithaca and went down to hang out and watch the action. These two guys seemed to be enjoying themselves. You can just make out the corner of the house that is attached to this cool Peterbuilt. Robby Aceto did a great job on the colors.

We tried something different this year on our trip to Kathmandu. Instead of going through Dubai we opted to fly Qatar Airways through Doha. It was a nice long flight and the Doha airport is wild. Here is the giant teddy bear with a lamp on its head. Quite bizarre.

The flight to Kathmandu from Doha was 4 1/2 hours and I was getting a bit tired and bored.

It is always great to get off the plane and be in Nepal. You can deplane from the front and back just like in Long Beach!

They have renovated our usual room at the Hotel Tibet. Brilliant sunset last night from our window. / We have today to goof around before Cris starts her World Education work tomorrow. Cheers and thanks for following.

After living in D.C. for the past 5 years, our son Peter has moved home for a bit to take some classes and do GRE prep. It is nice to have him around. Soon after he returned to Massachusetts we planned a quick trip to Meadville and Pittsburgh to catch a Pirates game.

The Willard employee reunion dish-to-pass event was happening on the Saturday that we drove out, so he and I stopped to say hi to old friends. We had time afterwards to go to the cemetery which is always a very moving experience.

The sign at the Jewish part of the cemetery is looking a bit run down and could use some help.

The little stone marker is still there.

Here is one of the numbered graves in that part of the cemetery. It makes me so sad that #43 has no name. The state of New York could remedy this if they cared enough to publish the names of the patients who are buried here.

Before Peter and I continued on to Meadville, we stopped by the Romulus Historical Society building to see the recent exhibit updates. It was nice to see Craig Williams and Debbie Nichols who had been a nursing student and then a nurse at Willard.

Here is Debbie sitting next to her actual uniform. It is a great little museum and well worth a visit.

I’ve been stopping at the Angola Rest Area on the New York Thruway for as long as I can remember. It is so nice to walk over the highway to get to the main building.

The first stop was a visit to Eddie’s Footlongs on the lake road outside of Meadville. I had 2 with the works.

On Sunday morning we got word that the Pirate’s game was cancelled due to rain, so we checked out of the motel and drove to Allegheny College to see the tree we planted in honor of my Dad.

My sister Karen chose a lovely Winter King, and it is thriving.

It was a rainy Sunday morning and after breakfast at the Meadville Market House Grill, we drove out for a last Hank’s and then around Conneaut Lake. The amusement park was not surprisingly deserted, but it was strange that country music was playing through the loudspeakers.

There was no one there to yell at us to stay off the rides, so we wandered and took some pictures.

Ugh, clowns.

On the left above is the Blue Streak roller coaster. I was never keen on riding it, but once Judy Jacoby who was my girlfriend for a short time convinced me to go on it. It was fine.

It is difficult to know for sure, but I think the park is still open. But it was a bit eerie to walk around with the music blaring and nobody else there.

The coaster car is pretty classic.

A Century Flyer made in Dayton, Ohio.

Here’s the entry into the first tunnel.

The master controls. ↑

Peter and I actually rode the Devil’s Den many years ago. The “Infamous Gum Wall!! is just that. People started sticking chewing gum on the wall when the ride slowed down and it became….well infamous.

Cristine and I are off to Nepal on Friday. I hope to post regularly from Kathmandu.

Here is another of the Soviet Union photos. I was in Leningrad in March of 1982 and the Neva River was still mostly frozen. From what I could tell, these women came to the river every day for a dip. I really like how the school children are standing around watching. Another amazing hand coloring job by Robbie Aceto.

I never did know if the selective hand coloring on this image was Mike Rider’s suggestion or that Robby Aceto was pinched for time when he did the work. I do know that when he was doing these for American Demographics he was also very active as a touring musician. He has worked a lot with guitarist David Torn and quite a bit with David Sylvian. When I saw Robby recently he talked about doing a gig in New York City and then coming back to his hotel room to work on photos for the magazine. It is always possible that he just ran out of time before this issue went to press. I look at this and imagine the sky being blue and the grass green, but the more I look at it, the more I like the fact that only the banners are colored.

The exhibit opens up in about a month. I am really looking forward to it.